"We were never going to be best friends. I don't think she approved of my relationship with Richard, just like we didn't approve of her choices. Despite that, I always tried to express my love for her,” she said in a righteous voice. “I mean, you may not always agree with family, but I believe love can prevail. At the end of the day, family is all we have.”
"Tell me about her boyfriend, Jesse Sutton."
A look of disdain snarled her lips. "I blame him. He's the one who got her into the drugs. He's the one who convinced her to start taking her clothes off on camera. As far as I'm concerned, he's a human trafficker. A pimp. No better than a common street thug.”
Her nose crinkled like she'd smelled rotten chicken.
"How bad was Eden’s drug problem?”
Lisa lifted an eyebrow. "Is there such a thing as a mild drug problem? It's a downhill slide that never ends well for anyone.”
She had a point.
"Do you know if she was in any trouble?”
Lisa tried not to laugh. "How much more trouble could she be in, Deputy? Her life seemed pretty troubled to me.”
"Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm her?” I said, clarifying.
Lisa shrugged. "I really don't know. I didn't havethatmuch contact with her. I wasn't her favorite person. I'll admit, I was not shy about making my displeasure known. Richard didn't raise her that way, and it was quite embarrassing.”
"Embarrassing?"
"Well, yes. Richard's entire life has been about promoting a virtuous life of devotion and service, and she goes off and does something like this just to spite him. Lord knows we both prayed and tried to get her to come back into the fold, but God had other plans.”
“I guess it’s safe to say the relationship was strained.”
"I'm not sure how it could be any other way. When you've got people with viewpoints at opposite ends of the spectrum, there’s not much common ground.”
"Can you tell me where you were yesterday between 5:00 and 7:00 PM?”
Lisa hesitated and gave me a suspicious look. "Are you considering me a suspect?"
I made a dismissive expression to put her at ease. "Just a routine question.”
"I was here at the house," she said.
"Can anyone verify that?”
"Yes. Eddie Marshall. He provides security for us.”
"Is he full-time?"
Lisa nodded. "Yes. He lives in the guesthouse. We haven't had too many incidents, but every now and then we do get some loony tune that shows up.”
"It's a crazy world we live in," I said.
"You can say that again.”
"Where's your husband?"
"He's out of town, in Austin.”
"How long has he been there?”
"A few days. Because I know you're going to ask, he was online yesterday during that timeframe, giving a sermon to a million followers.” She smiled.
“I’d like to speak with Eddie,” I said.
